Character
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Will Durant
A mountain is shaped by decades of exposure to environmental factors. A business is established by the needs of people. A nation is known by its history of interactions with the world around it. Everything, including you, is shaped over time by what it is exposed to on a regular basis. What are you regularly exposed to? Is it shaping you into who you want to be? Do you know what you want to be?
Think of character as the thing which is formed over time by regularly interacting with your environment. Key to character development is understanding the factors that are shaping you and to what end. Humility is required here - the humility to understand that your control over what you become is limited in part by environmental factors and habits .... so .... change those factors and change what you become.
Think of character as the thing which is formed over time by regularly interacting with your environment. Key to character development is understanding the factors that are shaping you and to what end. Humility is required here - the humility to understand that your control over what you become is limited in part by environmental factors and habits .... so .... change those factors and change what you become.
The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. - James Allen
This program approaches character development in three steps:
1. Determine an aspiration for direction.
2. Determine what influences are and are not in alignment with that aspiration.
3. Shape how your regularly interact with those influences.
1. Determine an aspiration for direction.
2. Determine what influences are and are not in alignment with that aspiration.
3. Shape how your regularly interact with those influences.
Who will you become?
Creating A Character Goal
The following list is based on the gifts of the church found in Romans 12:6-8, under the assumption that these are the general ways in which we create impact in God’s kingdom. If you could choose only three of the following abilities, what three would you choose? Feel free to come up with your own
The ability to ....
- motivate with passion.
- give (time, energy, money, etc.) generously.
- serve with skill(s).
- show acts of kindness regularly.
- teach with conviction.
- encourage with hopefulness.
- lead with passion.
- _____________________ (create your own)
If you could choose only one of those three as your trademark impact on people, which would it be?